Cold atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of ready-to-eat meat: inactivation of Listeria innocua and changes in product quality

Sara Katrine Solhøj Röd, Flemming Hansen, Frank Leipold, Susanne Knøchel

    134 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The application of cold atmospheric pressure plasma for decontamination of a sliced ready-to-eat (RTE) meat product (bresaola) inoculated with Listeria innocua was investigated. Inoculated samples were treated at 15.5, 31, and 62W for 2-60s inside sealed linear-low-density-polyethylene bags containing 30% oxygen and 70% argon. Treatments resulted in a reduction of L.innocua ranging from 0.8±0.4 to 1.6±0.5 logcfu/g with no significant effects of time and intensity while multiple treatments at 15.5 and 62W of 20s with a 10min interval increased reduction of L.innocua with increasing number of treatments. Concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) increased with power, treatments and storage time and were significantly higher than those of control samples after 1 and 14 days of storage at 5°C. However, the levels were low (from 0.1 to 0.4mg/kg) and beneath the sensory threshold level. Surface colour changes included loss of redness of ∼40% and 70% after 1 and 14 days of storage, respectively, regardless of plasma treatment. The results indicate that plasma may be applicable in surface decontamination of pre-packed RTE food products. However, oxidation may constitute an issue in some products.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalFood Microbiology
    Volume30
    Issue number1
    Pages (from-to)233-238
    Number of pages6
    ISSN0740-0020
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2012

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